StateLine: Industrial pollution drops in Massachusetts

Chemical pollutants that enter the environment from power plants, manufacturers and other large facilities are steadily declining in Massachusetts and other New England states.

Lindsey Parietti

Chemical pollutants that enter the environment from power plants, manufacturers and other large facilities are steadily declining in Massachusetts and other New England states.

Both New England and Massachusetts reduced their release of pollutants by more than 9 percent in 2006, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s most recent Toxic Release Inventory.

“There have been significant reductions for chemical releases, and that certainly is good news for everybody,” EPA regional spokesman David Deegan said of the downward trend. “It’s good for people in terms of our air quality, water quality and the environment.”

The inventory tracks chemicals including hydrochloric acid, ammonia and lead, which are not illegal but can pose health risks to humans and animals who are overexposed.

Since 2001, Massachusetts has reduced the amount of chemicals it releases into the environment by more than 30 percent, or three million pounds.

“Of course it’s good news and it shows that what gets measured and monitored can be managed,” said Berl Hartman, who is a clean energy consultant and member of E2, an environmentally conscious business association.

Bristol, Essex, Hampden, and Middlesex counties had the highest emissions in the state.

Dominion Energy’s Brayton Point power station in Somerset was the worst offender, releasing more than three times as many pounds of pollutants as any other Bay State company in 2006.

Dan Geanest, a spokesman for the company, said Dominion is installing equipment at that will reduce the facility’s hydrochloric acid emissions by 45 percent.

“Because it is so big, its emission is going to be a lot higher than other companies,” said Geanest of the station, which produces 1,100 megawatts of electricity, or enough to serve 880,000 households each year.

Mount Tom Generating Co. in Holyoke, Crown Beverage Packing in Lawrence, Dominion Energy in Salem and Boston Generating LLC in Charlestown were the other top polluters.

The EPA report comes as lawmakers prepare to debate a global warming bill that would limit another type of harmful emission - carbon dioxide.

“By passing a global warming bill, we’re going to signal to the industry … that the state is serious about doing something about global warming and that means there’s going to be a market for energy efficiency, for renewable energy of all kinds,” Hartman said. “Massachusetts is in a great position to take advantage of all that.”

But other business leaders say the state is already doing its part to reduce emissions through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multi-state compact Gov. Deval Patrick signed last year.

“Massachusetts should relax and let other parts of the country do something, because if we keep pushing and pushing and squeezing and squeezing it hurts our business returns,” said Bob Rio, president of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Rio argues that until the federal government creates nationwide emissions limits, companies will only leave Massachusetts for less restrictive states.

“If I shut down in Massachusetts, where our company is based on natural gas and I move to Tennessee and use the same amount of electricity it’s even worse because most of the energy comes from coal,” he said. “Here we are in the cleanest part of the country using the cleanest kinds of fuels. … We’re cutting down from a place that other states aren’t even near.”

Find out what toxins are being released in your area using the map at http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/statefactsheet.htm, or search by ZIP code at http://www.epa.gov/tri/.